Villanova post game thread

[REB1094]

This team needs to play with that sense of urgency for 40 minutes.

This is very true. Only Solo/Samson/Diarra seemed to care for the first 30 minutes, even if they weren’t having great games. Once everybody started to show energy and passion, the game shifted

Previous teams treated every possession like life or death. This team can do special things if they do it too

 

[Hoophound]

Reed should be a weapon in every game. We should force the ball into him. He’s that good. Sam brings energy, some easy buckets and he occasionally makes some key blocks. There’s room for both but Tarris needs to be a consistent factor on offense.

 

[GoConn]

Reed, McNeeley, and Hass were huge for us in the second half. Season saved...for now.

 

[Devland]

We just need Reed to show up like that in all games. He has been in and out.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

They were dead in the water down 14 with 10 left. Being outhustled and outshot.

Then someone flipped a switch, strategy changed to working McNeeley on drives and Reed in the post … and whaddaya know, defense was played!

Suddenly a win appeared and they looked like the team we all thought they could be. Hurley needs to show them the last 10 minutes on a loop until each player knows that’s the intensity and style that will be successful.

Fewer fouls, fewer turnovers, and great free throw shooting today. Stll need to fix a few things. The big one was the terrible 3 point shooting. What was once a strength has been a weakness recently. 4/19 today. Also, gotta get Solo to finish through contact at the rim.

We’ll take it and move on. Just win, baby.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

The Reed/Samson thing is about match ups. There is a reason Reed disappears in some games. Same for Samson. Tonight Reed played bully ball.

so if thats what Reed can do against Nova's big bodies, how would he have done versus Seton hall on the low block posting up I wonder. lol, Nice spirited comeback tonight. Raff mentioning McNeeley channeling Cam

 

[Palatine]

I thought the Hurley huddle at under 12 TO was great. Lets win the short 4 by four. Win the next four by four. Then the pressure switches to them. And they tightened up exactly as he predicted.

He is a very good coach.

 

[superjohn]

Yep, and Jaylin needs to get more minutes especially if karaban is not giving us much on offense. Though I will say Karaban always plays great D this year and Stewart sometimes goes airhead. Either way Stewart deserves more minutes. He is too athletic to keep out off the court on a team with not many good ones out there.

Jaylin has a lot of talent, that's why it's so frustrating when we go long periods of time without really noticing him out there. I desperately hope they can get all that talent out of him.

I was watching the St. John's game with a couple people who don't watch a ton of basketball/UConn and one of them said "Who is that guy? He looks like an NBA player out there," and the other guy agreed. Only Liam, Jaylin, and Tarris really have that look on this team. Samson is a pogo stick but you realize pretty quickly how flawed he is as a player.

 

[RuffRuff]

We just need Reed to show up like that in all games. He has been in and out.

I bet if we committed to him with intention more often, engaged him, let him rip a couple dunks down, you’d find a guy who sparks with more regularity.

 

[buddy]

I bet that chat room was a blast the first 30 minutes of this game.

It blew up on me and I had to reset my computer

 

[freshler40]

It really should be. It’s like I get Danny, Samson is a company man and you want to pay him back. We are a tougher team with Reed on the floor, and toughness is what this team desperately needs. He is a physical mismatch in the large majority of matchups - use it.

I don’t care what the Net or the efficiency says, it’s more important our lineup has a source strength out there. He does things Samson can’t do, and teams have to plan for him if you use him. He’ll also soften the perimeter. I just can’t do 5s that have a hard time catching a ball and are allergic to rebounds, no matter if they know the system better.

Tarris was energy all over the floor in the second half, and it fed the rest of the team. By the end they were looking for him effectively, finally. He always plays better the longer he’s out there.

Well put, hope it was noticed by the right people.

 

[superjohn]

Who cares - we’re tougher with Tarris. We feel like a pile of snowflakes with Samson out there.

We have way higher team upside makeup with a beast in the middle, not a finesse 5 with a bunch of jump shooters.

I’d be curious to Tarris’ numbers the further he plays in games as it always seems he hits his stride deeper into his minutes.

He's clearly a 14 and 10 guy with a couple of blocks if he got 27 minutes per game and the coach designed some things to get him the ball on the block.

 

[djct1999]

Yep but the really insane thing is Hurley never starting him and going away from him. He's so obviously our best big to anyone who watches and he provides all the things the rest of the team is so bad at. Being big, getting buckets down low, and rebounding on both ends of the court. Danny is stubborn but this has been next level stubbornness from him.

Please. As great as Tarris was tonight, he is not a prototypical 5. To say Hurley got this wrong all season is idiotic. Does nova even have a player a legit 6’9? Tarris was awesome tonight but part of it was because it was a great matchup. Tarris has and will get two fouls almost instantly on guys taller than him.
Personally I can’t wait for next year. I think he and riebe complement each other perfectly.

 

[Gurleyman]

He's clearly a 14 and 10 guy with a couple of blocks if he got 27 minutes per game and the coach designed some things to get him the ball on the block.

And we know we have things. I mean, yeah, he's not an exact Sanogo clone, but he has the same physical presence - and basically all the same plays could be run for him. Adama would have a few more finishing tricks after getting the ball, but Reed might be a little tougher on the immediate catch and finish (today's block from behind notwithstanding). Adama would sometimes be too deliberate.

 

[DawgEnjoyer]

I honestly thought that offensive rebound and put back by Jaylin was Tarris right when it happened. That was an incredible rebound, it looked like he had a bear mitt the way he swallowed it up.

Agreed, that was a GROWN MAN’S Rebound

 

[WeAreUCONN]

I turned it off, down 14, there’s only so much I can take, but I’m glad we got the W.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Please. As great as Tarris was tonight, he is not a prototypical 5. To say Hurley got this wrong all season is idiotic. Does nova even have a player a legit 6’9. Tarris was awesome tonight but part of it was because it was a great matchup. Tarris has and will get two fouls almost instantly on guys taller than him.

There's only so many teams that can match up with Tarris from a quality size perspective. Most teams don't have the player you're talking about.

 

[Hoophound]

Reed is so important because we don’t have a lot of offense. If he was a reliable source, the other guys would have a much easier time scoring too. Play some inside out, soften people up.

 

[ctbro1999]

I just died a little inside.

View attachment 107120

The end result is all that matters, right?
Barf

 

[todbo]

13 fouls to their 16, 16 FT points to their 13. That, along with moving into the paint toward the end put the game out of reach

 

[djct1999]

It really should be. It’s like I get Danny, Samson is a company man and you want to pay him back. We are a tougher team with Reed on the floor, and toughness is what this team desperately needs. He is a physical mismatch in the large majority of matchups - use it.

I don’t care what the Net or the efficiency says, it’s more important our lineup has a source strength out there. He does things Samson can’t do, and teams have to plan for him if you use him. He’ll also soften the perimeter. I just can’t do 5s that have a hard time catching a ball and are allergic to rebounds, no matter if they know the system better.

Tarris was energy all over the floor in the second half, and it fed the rest of the team. By the end they were looking for him effectively, finally. He always plays better the longer he’s out there.

Danny is Danny. Not a huge deal if Samson starts and he does some good things. But Tarris should almost always play more minutes.

 

[3rdbass]

Please. As great as Tarris was tonight, he is not a prototypical 5. To say Hurley got this wrong all season is idiotic. Does nova even have a player a legit 6’9? Tarris was awesome tonight but part of it was because it was a great matchup. Tarris has and will get two fouls almost instantly on guys taller than him.
Personally I can’t wait for next year. I think he and riebe complement each other perfectly.

Yep it is all about matchups. When he plays a more mobile center Reed tends to have issues. Samson/Reed mixing has been fine. Hurley normally runs the hot hand. I do like to see us get the ball more inside when Reed is in there like we did in the last 10 minutes instead of settling for 3s.

 

[Revrat]

Lets give Hurley some credit for the press. That took Nova out of their game a bit and forced them to rush on their end a bit more and take some bad shots.

 

[TheShot1990]

What the heck did Neptune say in the timeout? “Get the ball to Reed?”

 

[UCan3]

It was weird but it’s like the Team figured out we have to play harder than other teams… Yes we need to press, Yes we need to defend aggressively as a team and yes, we need to hustle out there!

Like a light switched on….

We beat ‘Nova like we’ve been beat by lesser teams, Seton Hall comes to mind.

I hope this 2nd half of this game was the new standard and not having to rely on Solo or McNeeley having these ridiculous shooting nights to bail us out.

This was a team win, led by Liam who was thankfully lights out at the FT line!

My only bit of a complaint is why does Solo look so lost out there sometimes. We had this great press going. Guys busting their butts to defend well and Solo looks like a lost child out here - his guy 5 ft away!

Other than that don’t know anybody could say this was a “bad“ win. We’ll take it - tonight was as big east as the big east gets. The team that wanted it more got the “W.” I guess that’s how it should be.